Tip of the Week: How to Exercise at the Office

It’s 2015, and if you have made any New Year’s resolutions, there’s a good chance that “getting more exercise” is on your list. Can’t find time to exercise because you’re stuck in an office all day? Don’t let that stop you. Here are some tips to help you exercise, even while you’re at work.

Working can be mentally, and sometimes even physically exhausting. By the time you get out of work, you just want to relax. However, it doesn’t have to be exhausting. Physically stimulating your body during work can help keep you healthy and active when you’re out of the office. This helps keep you out of the dreaded work/eat/sleep/back-to-work cycle that so many business people seem to be stuck in.

Forbes magazine provides several excellent ways to keep your body active while in the workplace. Among them are exercises that work and stretch several different parts of your body, including:

• The core muscles.
• Your arms.
• Carpal tunnel relief.
• Your legs and lower body.
• Your shoulders.

Do You Even Lift?
You don’t have to be one of those obnoxious bodybuilders at the gym to enjoy physical fitness. All you need is your desk and your office chair. Place your hands on the armrests, then lift your feet off the ground. Raise yourself up using your stomach muscles and hold for as long as you can. Repeat a few times until you feel the burn.

You can also build up your upper-body strength and triceps by using “desk dips.” Sit on your desk slightly with your legs on the ground, then dip your body down until your legs and arms reach a 90-degree angle, then push yourself back up.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can even do push ups against your desk. Stand back about a yard from your desk, place your hands on your desk at around a shoulder length apart. After that, it’s simply a matter of pushing up and down.

Carpe Diem without Carpal Tunnel
Those who spend a lot of time typing will probably exhibit signs of carpal tunnel syndrome. This medical condition restricts the median nerve found in the wrist, which hampers the communication between the hand and fingers with other parts of the body. Long-term carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to atrophy of muscles in the fingers, as well as permanent nerve damage.

In order to mitigate the damage done to your wrists, there’s a stretch meant to keep your median nerves open. Stand in front of your desk and place your palms on it. Then straighten your arm out and point your fingers toward your body. Lean forward until you feel a stretch, and hold for several seconds. This will loosen you up and keep your wrists from suffering permanent nerve damage.

Don’t Forget Leg Day
You shouldn’t ignore any part of your body when it comes to physical fitness, so pay attention to your legs, too. Some basic exercises you can perform are leg lifts. Sit down in your chair and extend your leg. Hold it. Hold it. HOLD IT. Done. Repeat this several times with each leg.

Another one you can try is a hamstring stretch, which can relieve your lower back and calf muscles. Push back your chair and extend one leg onto your desk. Lean forward a bit and extend your arms, all while keeping your back straight. Hold for several seconds, then switch legs.

These are just a few easy exercises that you can do around the office. What are some additional office exercises that you can do to keep your body fit? Let us know in the comments.